Block #96 for April X.

I was a bachelorette this weekend. My husband was out of town and I had the whole weekend to do whatever I wanted to. I *should* have made a ton of birds, but I only made 2.75 birds. However, I did sleep a lot today. Any during my daytime nap I had the strangest dreams about people I haven’t seen or thought about in years. One of those was April.

I met April when we roomed together during our orientation before our freshman year in college. We decided to be roommates the following year, both of us terrified of rolling the dice. She had tattoo’s; I always wanted a tattoo but was too scared to get one.

One night, I came back to my room and a male RA from another floor was crashed out in our room.  He was drunk and couldn’t make it back to his room without getting seen and kicked out. Boys after hours were NOT allowed. And I was NOT a rule breaker. I still have trouble breaking the rules. I spent that night in the TV room until he woke up and left and then I moved out as soon as I could. I regret that, she was pretty cool and super nice. If I had stayed with her, I probably would have that tattoo by now.

Date Made: June 7th 2015
Block #96
Days on Project: 158
Blocks Made: 96

For April X.

Block #95 for Shelly A.

This bird is dedicated to my co-worker, and super cool chic, Shelly A. The thing I like the most about shelly is her attitude. She always has a positive outlook on life. Usually, overly positive people bug me. I want to hit them with a reality stick. But not her; she has great delivery. She doesn’t kill you with rainbows. I often leave her office thinking, “well, why didn’t I see it that way” or “I should try to be more like that”.

Funny Thing…

A couple years ago, Shelly was very pregnant and had decided it was time to stop driving herself to work. We lived near each other so she rode with me. We talked about everything on our way in. Work, TV, husbands, movies, food (lots of food talk), growing up…

One day we were talking about the things we ate as kids (yes – like I said, lots of food talk). I had never met anyone down here who ate the same things I did growing up until her: Sugar toast, peanut butter and syrup sandwiches, rice with butter and sugar… I still can’t believe it. We are both sort of from the mid-west, maybe thats it? I no longer eat sugar toast, or rice with butter and sugar but every time I have a peanut butter and honey (upgraded it a bit) sandwich I think of her. I might have one tonight…

Date Made: June 6th 2015
Block #95
Days on Project: 157
Blocks Made: 94

For Shelly A.

Block #94 for Rommel

This bird is for my college buddy Rommel. We spent our last couple semesters in class together and had a blast. Over time we lost touch until one day we bumped into each other in one of the most unlikely places…

Jury Duty!

Yep, what are the odds? I live(ed) in a city of about 4-6 million peoples. The odds are low [quite low] that you will meet someone you know in jury duty. Not only that, but we were put on the same jury pool. So we had lunch, reminisced and experienced our judicial system together. He had a very high number and I had a very low number. Which basically means, I got selected and he didn’t (but I always get selected – that’s another story). We parted ways and friended each other on Facebook.

Now he might be moving out to my neck of the woods and I am hoping to see him a little more than every 10 years or so. However, there are less people out here… so chances are we could make this jury duty thing work.

Date Made: June 1st 2015
Block #94
Days on Project: 152
Blocks Made: 94

For Rommel

Block #93 for 365 Days Handmade

This is my first bird in just over a month. I posted a bit of a groveling post earlier so in this post, I will instead catch you up on my crazy world. And dedicate this to the very cool chica who pulled me out of my sewing slump.

I started a new, very big project at work and have been tied up with power points, politics and snake bites. I’m not being metaphorical, my dog actually got bit by a snake a few nights ago. It’s been a long week.

I got online tonight and logged into WordPress for the first time in a month and had a message from a fellow blogger at 365 Days Handmade. She was wondering where I was and I remember feeling the same way a few months ago when A Thousand Quilted Cranes disappeared for a bit.

I have missed this community and in particular, the blogger responsible for 365 Days Handmade. She is unbelievable cool, and made This Hat which told me all I need to know about her.

Thank you for checking in on me and all your good advice as I start my knitting journey. You Rock.

Date Made: May 31st, 2015
Block #93
Days on Project: 151
Blocks Made: 93

For 365 Days Handmade

Keeping it in the family, this bird is for my Aunt Linda.

I thought of her today as I have now agreed to teach two of my co-workers how to crochet. And in doing so, I realize I am jeopardizing both friendships and work relationships…

My Aunt Linda has gotten bit by the crochet bug and she is crocheting everything from hats to clothes to flowers. But, she recently started crocheting doilies. Seeing her doilies makes me think of my grandmother. I remember her making doilies for her home and her friends and babydoll clothes for me. She taught me to crochet when I was very young. And she is probably the reason I have tried anything that involves a needle and thread.

She passed this love of creating things on to me and her daughters. She has been gone from us for a very long time but seeing Linda’s creations sure brings it all back. Some of the doilies Linda is making are traditional and very similar to grandma’s. But… some are also colorful and fun with embellishments! I wonder what grandma would think of the new funky fun ones…. I vote for new funky fun!

Linda’s Doilies

When my mom and her sisters read this, they will probably cry. Sorry mom…

Date Made: April 27th, 2015
Block #92
Days on Project: 117
Blocks Made: 92

For Aunt Linda

Block #91 for Uncle Gerald

“Guess who’s back, back again. Birdies back. Tell a friend. Guess who’s back, guess who’s back, guess who’s back..”

If you didn’t get that song reference, this may not be the blog for you… Just kidding, you can stay! I haven’t posted a bird since April 7th. A road trip, busy work weeks, and a twisted ankle are to blame. Going into the sewing room for the first time in more than two weeks was weird and I am definitely out of practice.

Tonight’s bird goes to my uncle Gerald. I was able to have dinner with him and his family during our road trip. I hadn’t seen him probably 15 years. It was great catching up and getting to know them again. He is a very neat guy. I was surprised to learn about his interests in Paleontology and Archeology as I have the very same interests and his brother, my Uncle Jesse, is an anthropologist. I love his curious spirit, he seems to be always looking to learn and experience new things. That got me thinking… (I know, that could be dangerous). He, like me, has a day job that doesn’t have anything to do with his those interests. I am sure he loves his job, I know I love mine. But my job isn’t everything; I don’t wake up in the morning chompin’ at the bit to get to work. And you know what, that’s ok. It feels like everyone around me is trying to turn the things they love into careers. Our society tends to promote the idea of “You are good at that, you should be getting paid for it”. I don’t want to turn the things I love into revenue streams. Something tells me that when and if I do, I won’t love them as much and there would be no distinction between work and home. We can have fun and do things we enjoy just because we enjoy them.

Q & A

What do you think about this? Do you make a living doing what you love or is your job the paycheck that allows you to do what you love? Just a general question to throw out to the interwebs…

Also, did you notice the mistake in the bird? I really am out of practice…

Date Made: April 25th, 2015
Block #91
Days on Project: 115
Blocks Made: 91

For Uncle Gerald